


Tangled Up In Red Cord

by LynnieSynn



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Coming of Age, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluffiness, Growing Up, M/M, Romance, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:55:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21773305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LynnieSynn/pseuds/LynnieSynn
Summary: Gloria is struggling with putting everything into place after becoming champion.  There are new things popping up all over the place.  When her sister comes back to Galar after five years to help bring her some comfort, Gloria begins to feel the weight of the world lightening off of her shoulders.  Just when things begin to seem to fall into place, everything starts to spiral when her sister starts sticking her claws into everything again.  Gloria can't decide if her sister is helping or making everything worse.
Relationships: Gloria/Some Damn Peace & Quiet
Kudos: 13





	Tangled Up In Red Cord

**Author's Note:**

> This is all just a fun little fic that I wanted to play with.

“So, why are we not meeting next week?” Marnie asked. 

“My sister is coming to town,” Gloria told her, “and I want to spend as much time with her as possible.”

“Katy’s coming back?”

Leon perked up a bit. This was pretty abnormal for these meetings. He remained pretty melancholy since losing his champion title. He could fake it well enough for the public, but anyone he knew personally knew how much it was hurting him. Struggling to find another purpose, Leon was quickly falling into a depression.

That was why Gloria conducted this group. With several important people stepping down in Galar and replacing themselves with much younger faces, Gloria decided that they all needed to work together to fill the positions more perfectly. Weekly, they would all meet up to discuss how the progress was going. As much as Gloria tried to pass it off as a professional get-together, it was really just an excuse to get to see her friends more often and help Leon realize how much she still needed his help.

During the week, Gloria would meet up Leon, and they would go check on things around the region. He would show here various techniques he learned that made him a crowd favorite. He showed her how to get into various places and what to do to remain a figurehead in Galar. They would spend time checking on each gym, major and minor, and working with the new trainers. It was a busy job being a champion. 

It was rough being Champion. Leon made the job look easy. However, Gloria didn’t realize how much of her youth was over by taking on this responsibility. She loved Galar and being able to serve it, but she also missed just hanging out with her friends.

So, once a week, Opal, Magnolia, and Piers brought Bede, Sonia, Hop, and Marnie to Postwick to have a nice dinner together. While they all chatted for a while about business, but eventually, everyone split off into socializing. Sometimes, other gym leaders were invited (or invited themselves). It normally ended up being a big party. For Gloria, it made the job and all the hard work worth it.

“So, instead of spending six minutes talking about progress, we’re just going to be hanging out?” Bede asked, bored of it all.

“Exactly!” Hop laughed. “How long has it been since Katy’s come back to Galar?”

“Five years,” informed Gloria.

“Has it really been that long?” Sonia questioned.

“Where has she been again?” Leon asked.

Piers leaned in a whispered to Marnie, “Since when has Gloria had a sis?”

Marnie whispered back, “I only found out when she told me a couple days ago.”

Gloria laughed, “I didn’t talk about her much because Kathryn did the gym challenged too, and I didn’t want to be compared to her. She lost to Leon in the semi-finals, and after that, she left Galar to find a new adventure. She did the Alolan trial challenge first. Since then, she’s been in Unova, training under Elesa.”

Sonia leaned on her elbows as she asked, “So, what’s bringing her back?”

“Celebrate my victory with me,” answered Gloria. “She wasn’t able to get off while I was in the finals or any sooner because Unova’s tourist season was in effect. They get a surge of new trainers during that time. She did say that they closed the gym when my match against Leon aired so everyone could cheer me on from Unova.”

“It’ll be nice to have her back for a bit,” Leon pointed out. “If I have to help Sonia pick out another shade of nail polish, I’m going to lose it.”

The meeting went on as normal, and as everyone was parting their ways, Gloria made her way back to her house. Before she got too far, Marnie offered to walk with her. As always, Piers tagged along behind Marnie. Two young girls walking alone at night? Not on his watch!

Marnie spoke up, “So, you didn’t want to be compared to Kathryn? Did she do something wrong?”

Gloria shook her head, “No, no. Nothing like that. There was a lot of pressure on Hop to be like Leon. He jumped right into that, but I didn’t want that comparison. Kathryn was very popular when she did the challenge. She was bright and ambitious, but she had a bit of a reputation for being ruthless. I didn’t want that following me.”

Marnie nodded, “I understand. It wasn’t exactly the easiest trying to control my brother’s fan club, as you remember. Yell’s heart was in the right place, but they…were not.”

Gloria laughed, “They were pretty fun, though.”

As they arrived at her home, Gloria hugged Marnie. They said their goodbyes and cracked a couple of little jokes before separating. Gloria made her way over to Piers. He held out his hand, but she came in for a hug. She did this for the past month, and Piers wasn’t quite sure why he wasn’t used to it yet.

“Night, girlie.”

“Night, Rockstar.”

They went their separate way. Through the window, Piers could see Gloria hug her mother as she talked vividly. He draped his arm over Marnie’s shoulder as he led her back down the path. Seeing Gloria at home made him really miss his bed.

“She wants to have a sibling date with Kathryn,” Marnie announced. “She said her sister wants to meet all of her friends. She suggested that we come over to their house. You down for that?”

Piers groaned, “I mean, I guess. Why don’t we just move out here with how much time we spend here?”

“Yeah, because we’re the type to settle down in this sleepy town on the southside of nothingness,” Marnie said with a laugh. “Wouldn’t that be hysterical? Could you imagine us giving it all up for some silly partnership? No more late city nights with the boys. We would just have all of this?”

She motioned largely out to an empty field. Piers laughed full-heartedly. Marnie wasn’t wrong. As soon as she was ready to handle the gym on her own, he was going to leave for tour. He wanted to pursue his music career. He would hit a few key spots in Galar before taking the show interregional. That was his dream.

The very idea of settling down in places like Postwick or Wedgehurst made a shiver slide down his spine. Quiet nights in the country like this made him feel uncomfortable. The idea of a spouse nagging him and children crying was absolutely sickening. He wouldn’t be able to play his music. He would need to get a normal job, probably in accounting. It was far from anything he wanted.

“Piers, you ever gonna try to get a girl?”

“Nah. I’m married to the music.”

“That was so lame.”

Piers and Marnie made it to the station just in time to meet up with Opal and Bede. The train to Hammerlocke was normally pretty smooth. Bede and Marnie fell asleep while leaning on top of each other. Piers took a picture and sent it to Nessa. Of all people, he thought she would enjoy seeing this without making too big of a deal out of it.

Opal tapped his shin with her cane from under the table. Piers looked back to her. He was a bit a shocked to see the old bat was still awake this late at night. However, he learned quickly not to actually say things like that to her out loud. It normally ended with him getting hit. It happened enough time that when it wasn’t worth it, he learned not to speak.

“They’ll be ready soon.”

“They’re ready now, but Gloria’s need to help Leon is holding them back.”

Opal looked over at the sleeping proteges, “You think Marnie is so perfect and ready, but if she was as confident as you are, don’t you think she would have told you to bugger off.”

Pier sighed. The old woman was right. If Marnie was so sure of her skills as a gym leader as she was when she left home for the challenge, she would have told him to leave already. Perhaps, she was enjoying their bonding time. Piers hoped so. He always wanted the best for Marnie.

“What about you and the boy?” asked Piers.

Opal smiled slightly as she watched Bede rub his face in his sleep, “He thinks I’m just being overbearing, but that’s poppycock. He needed a family, and I’m sticking around until he realized he has one now. Once he is secure in that, I’ll leave him be.”

“You think he’s gonna let you rot in peace?”

Chuckling, Opal replied, “Not even in the slightest. He’ll come visit to complain about everything, and I’ll enjoy every minute of it. He’s the grandson I never got.”

After the train finished and the taxi ride home was over, Piers helped a very sleepy Marnie into their home and up to her room. Once he plopped her on the bed and took her shoes off, he left her alone. He heard her mumbled a small ‘thanks’ before burying her face into her pillow. That was enough to make him smile and his heart warmed.

He made his way to his room. He plugged in headphones to his guitar. He sat back and just played. This was his way to wind down. He wasn’t even really paying attention to what his fingers picked. He just like the sound of his own music. It was whatever his mind was feeling. It was his creative outlet, and he had a lot of create to get out.

It wasn’t long until he was falling asleep. His guitar slipped out of his hands and next to him on the bed, and he pushed his headphones off in his sleep. Piers slumber was restful. He was exhausted.


End file.
